Three-term Illinois Treasurer Michael Frerichs said Monday he would not seek the 2026 Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate seat of Dick Durbin, who is retiring at the end of his term.
“There is a mess in Washington right now and we need to send someone who will fight for all of us in Illinois, but that person will not be me,” Frerichs wrote in an email to supporters.
“After many conversations with friends, and lengthy talks with my wife, I have reached the decision that the answer is no,” he wrote. “I am not willing to travel to Washington, D.C., 30-some weeks a year and spend so many nights away from my children. I don’t want to miss their games, their recitals, or even that many bedtimes.”
Frerichs, a native of Gifford in central Illinois and a former Champaign County auditor and state senator who later moved to Chicago, remarried in 2022 and has twin 2-year-old sons as well as a college-age daughter from his first marriage.
Frerichs said he “aspired to follow in Sen. Durbin’s footsteps” and said he was “humbled at the outpouring of support” following the April 23 announcement by the state’s senior senator that he would not seek a sixth senate term.
So far, two-term Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton is the only announced Democrat seeking to replace Durbin, although three members of Congress — U.S. Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Schaumburg, Robin Kelly of Matteson and Lauren Underwood of Naperville — also are considering a bid for the party’s March 2026 nomination.
Stratton, who has the backing of billionaire Gov. JB Pritzker, announced Monday she had named Laura Ricketts and her spouse, Brooke Skinner Ricketts, as among four co-chairs of the campaign’s finance committee. Laura Ricketts is a board member of the Chicago Cubs ownership and she is lead owner of the Chicago Red Stars women’s soccer team.